REPRINT THE WINCHESTER STAR • THURSDAY, JULY 24, 2003
BY KRISTINA ARVANITIS, STAFF WRITER
BY KRISTINA ARVANITIS, STAFF WRITER
A model for collaboration
‘Cramer’s Cube’ offers a diversity fix for corporations
Vincent Cramer is looking to change the way corporate employees collaborate.
Cramer – a 25-year Winchester resident and educated as an electrical engineer – spent most of his profession-al career in semiconductor sales, working for both Fortune 500 and start-up companies. But when his last place of employment, a high- tech start-up, went out of business, Cramer decided to set to work on his manual for what he calls “diversity asset management.”
“I was cranking out resumes and I got to thinking, ‘let me start writing and see where this goes,’” Cramer said. And the result was “Cramer’s Cube,” which was published this year by 1stBooks.
Although the appendix of the book offers instructions about how to make pyramids using construction paper, the exercises offered are not for children, but rather for business professionals. Cramer’s hope is that his manual will allow companies to tap the viewpoints and ideas that their own employees offer, eliminating the need for costly consultants.
However, according to Cramer, what is needed in order to achieve a range of opinions and solutions is diversity, something that is sorely lacking in most companies. He hopes that his book will convince corporations that diversity that differentiates based on individual uniqueness rather than that based on a common thread such as race or gender is the key to creative solutions to problems.
His theory is that collaborative workgroups often forsake diversity in favor of simply expanding on the first idea that is presented to the group by the individual that he refers to as the “straw man.” He calls this the “illusion of inclusion,” and that once that first individual takes it upon himself to offer the first possible explanation, other workers’ contributions to the problem are limited. In this scenario, usually the “loudest or brightest” rule.
“In a collaborative group, someone usually will step forward and provide a solution that is reasonable, but that the other individuals in the group would modify somewhat,” Cramer said. “And everyone feels like they contributed to that. The problem is that the person who started led the group down a different path than any others that could be considered. The contributions are limited because they’re working on the straw man’s idea.”
So, Cramer proposed a new starting ground that he calls the R.E.D. Zone, where working groups first consider ideas from both extremes. As an example, he offers the problem of buying a car. Instead of merely looking at vehicles in a certain price range, Cramer would ask groups to start by thinking about not buying a car at all or looking at the possibility of buying a plane instead.
Now that the book has hit the stands, Cramer’s next step is to try to sell his theory to corporations, human resource management organizations and universities, rather than going the usual route of book tours and signings. He now hopes to offer keynote presentations, executive seminars, training sessions and coaching to both managers and employees.
“The feedback I’ve gotten is very enthusiastic,” he noted.
But will he ever go back to semiconductors? Or is his new calling to spread the word about his team strengthening methodology?
“This will be what I do forever and ever now,” Cramer stated emphatically.
Official “Cramer’s Cube” Web site: www.cramerscube.com
